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I kind of knew this day was coming, my very active 35lb dog was diagnosed with a partially torn acl back in January. Our vet recommended that she go on a strict 3-5 month, no activity regimen. You have no idea how this dog acts, but we took her out the front of the house for bathroom breaks on a leash, carried her up the stairs to bed, and really did well. So we started going on longer walks recently and she really likes to pull at times, and I think this is what did her in. So no she can put no weight on the leg and I'm most certain the acl completely failed. So my question...

Has anyone in the area had an experience, good or bad with a vet or orthopedic vet who performed an acl surgery? I'm not too fond of our current vet and this is the only one we've been to since moving here. Also, has anyone had a pet go through the different types of procedures? From what I can gather there are 4 courses of treatment:
1-Nothing, doesn't seem like the nicest route.
2-Scope, clean and relieve any partial tear left to make it a full tear and leave it and allow the muscle to strengthen, but limits the activity in the future.
3-Commonly known as the fishing line fix, in active dogs can easily rupture.
4-TPLO-essentially a complete knee replacement-$$$$, and a long recovery, but best prognosis.

And to top it all, we are expecting our first child any day now. Thanks for your input.

I haven't had any experience with orthopedic vets, but Carolina Veterinary Specialists might be a place to check out. They are located at the intersection of Guilford College Rd and I-85 in Greensboro. My vet in Winston-Salem referred me there when my cat needed specialized cardiac care a few years ago.

You might also want to consider the Vet School at NC State. With your baby due, if you can't get to Raleigh, maybe they could give you a local referral.

As for "regular" vets in Winston-Salem, I can't think of anybody better than Ard-Vista on Stratford Road near Knollwood.

Thomasville Veterinarian.
Our Lab mix has had each knee on his back legs done. Usage is about 90% as he has some arthritis, but I couldn't be more happy with the results as he is 8 yrs old. Cost us about $1000 per knee.http://www.thomasvillevet.vetsuite.c...es/BLOCKS.aspx

I had a dog with the same issue. The vet I had at the time recommended surgery but also cautioned me because of the age of the dog. I did some research and found that for dogs under 30 pounds doing nothing but restricting activity was the best treatment option. It took a few months but my dog did recover. Your dog is a little over this weight range so it is a tough call. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Used Carolina Veterinary Specialist about 8 years ago to have a luxating patella (knee cap fell out of place) fixed for our lab/chow mix. They did a fantastic job and I would recommend them again. Took about 9 months for Jackson to become 100% again, but after he was BIONIC dog, and lived a long life.

Back in Sep of this year, had to have ACL surgery on our 12 year old lab mix. Since we moved to Charlotte 6 years ago, we decided to use our local vet here. Surgery was successful, and although our dog will never be totally back to normal (because of his age) , he is living a very nice life. We did # 3 -- the fishing line surgery, cost was about $1,000. TPLO is very invasive but effective, and with our older dog we decided not to do that. And with a baby on the way, not a great time for you either!

Now, here's the other side of the story. My aunt has another dog from the same litter as our lab-mix (they are brothers) who tore his ACL at the same time. Their dog has an enlarged heart, so surgery isn't an option. They have been treating it with rest and so forth, and he's doing pretty well. Of course the risk is that arthritiis (sp??) will set in OR that he will tear the other one (then they won't be able to walk -- not good) which ours did while recovering from surgery.

OK, so much for short!!

Finally, on yahoo groups there's a group called Orthodogs (you will have to do a search on the groups page to find it) with a HUGE amount of helpful information. I would suggest giving that a look too.

Hope this helps -- but the bottom line is you know your dog best, and I know you will make the best decision you can!

I am kind of in the same boat as you. On top of everything, I am 32 weeks along with twins due very soon! I have a Lab/mix who will turn 4. Back in September 09, she started limping so we took her to the vet. We did some conservative management, but it did not get better so we scheduled a surgery for 3 weeks later. The surgeon just thought she may have a partial tear or stretched ligament. We brought her in the day of surgery and the surgeon took one look at her and said, he didn't want to mess with it after doing all his "pre-tests" because he thought she was doing well. February comes around and we started to notice some more popping and clicking in her leg, but she seemed to be doing fine on short walks and walking in general. Only when she got sassy and ran around the house would she limp for about a day or two, then be fine. Then this past week, we noticed she has been slipping and will not go up the steps, and she is even laying down more and sitting funny to the side. I am so mad at this surgeon for at least doing exploratory surgery and getting this fixed back in October. I just got off the phone with the vet and they are going to schedule surgery. This couldn't have come at a crappier time!

I will tell you after going through this situation with our dog, it was tough. We did the simple "fishing line" surgery for our hyperactive crazy dog and she is at 100% now. We did the surgery the week after bringing the baby home. The next 3 months were rough. I say rough because we had a newborn so we slept very little, and had another "baby" to take care of in the dog who could not walk. I would have to carry her up and down the stairs at night and in the morning (she slept in a crate in our room). Then carry her in and out side to use the bathroom. Thankfully she got used to being stuck in a crate for 3 months, but it was always a distraction. The biggest problem was after she was allowed out of her crate, she didn't know how to control herself. We have hardwood floors on the entire main floor, so we had to quickly buy walmart out of runners and area rugs to cover where she normally walked(ran) in the house. It will be tough, but it was worth it for us, now that she is back at full capacity. I would highly recommend Thomasville Vet Hospital. Great group of doctors and staff. She stayed there for two weeks after her surgery so that at least was a nice calm before the storm and it let her have time to really set the healing process. Good luck

The vet that we used does a lot of work with orthopedic related problems. They even have an aqua therapy set up. We have been taking our 13 year old sheppard/huskie mix since we relocated to NC and very satisfied with the care that she has gotten. Oh yeah, the vet....its Hillsdale Veterinary Hospital in Advance off 158. Hope this helps and especially hope that your dog recuperates soon!

Although my beloved dogs are no longer with us they both lived to a ripe old age (15 and 16). When we moved here 3 years ago we were told that the best vet in the area is Dr. Mitch Spindel who owns Animal Ark in Clemmons. He is a fantastic person and was a great doctor to our elderly dog. He has a state-of-the-art facility but will not push you to anything you are not comfortable with. Good luck with the surgery!

My seven year old Whippet tore his ACL about four weeks ago. He had surgery and is slowly recovering, though he still does not put his full weight on it. Our vet/surgeon was Dr. Ann Mitchell at North Elm Animal Hospital in Greensboro. We could not have been more pleased with her work or the way everyone there treated our dog. I highly recommend Dr. Mitchell and would be happy to answer any more questions.
She strongly recommended the surgery as the best alternative. Doing nothing meant he would never have use of that leg again, since it was a clean tear through.

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